Multiple-robbery suspect caught

An armed robbery suspect police had been searching for was arrested at a Loaf ‘N Jug store late Friday night.

Vertis Allen, 32, was at a Loaf ‘N Jug on Bonforte Boulevard scratching lottery tickets at about 11:50 p.m.

Police had received a theft report the previous day about a black male in his early 30s who stole several lottery tickets from behind the counter of a Shell station on Bonforte, according to a police report.

The man scratching the lottery tickets looked similar to the suspect police saw on security video from the incident at the Shell station.

Police also said the clothes Allen was wearing matched the description of a suspect who robbed a Family Dollar store on Bonforte while brandishing a gun earlier in the evening on Friday.

Officers approached Allen and asked to speak with him. When he turned toward them, they saw the bottom plate of a handgun sticking out of his waistline.

The weapon was immediately seized and Allen was taken into custody.

It was later determined that the weapon was a BB gun that was designed to look like a real firearm, according to police.

The gun looked similar to the one shown in the Family Dollar’s security video.

The clerk who filed the report from the Family Dollar store was able to positively identify Allen as the man who robbed the store.

Allen was arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery.

He was being held at Pueblo County jail without bail pending a court appearance.